The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) announced that for the first round of abridged applications for State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT) loans they received 48 applications for more than $5.5 billion in water projects that will benefit Texas.
The TWDB has traveled the state the past three months promoting the SWIFT program and meeting with interested stakeholders. The applications include a mix of urban and rural projects. The TWDB had estimated it would be providing approximately $800 million in SWIFT financial assistance in this round but will be reviewing the requests to determine whether additional funding is possible.
The TWDB will start the evaluation process immediately. Over the next few months, the agency will conduct a comprehensive scoring process of all applications. Projects will be scored against the prioritization criteria developed through public input in 2014. The TWDB will also be evaluating other eligibility requirements, such as whether the project is in the state water plan and what type of SWIFT financial assistance it can receive.
The project prioritization list will be released later this spring. The TWDB anticipates closing SWIFT loans by the fall. Projects not selected for the first round of funding may be eligible to apply for the next round of funding or other TWDB financial programs.